Ottawa Senators

This is the Isles first match of three including Home and Homes tonight and Thursday vs the Senators. This is also the first Isles game of December, meaning we have to say goodbye (with a joyful tear for the first time in a long time) to the No-Lose month of November.

The Blackhawks came into the game on the second of back to back games with that being the case a new goaltender Scott Darling was manning the Chicago nets. Darling is an Illinois native and a big goalie at 6’6”. He stands tall and he did in the Blackhawks net as well.

After having lost two games in row the Hawks were looking to get back to the winning track. All the scoring in the game came in the middle period thanks to spectacular goaltending by Scott Darling who made his NHL debut in front of his hometown crowd.

Jonathan Toews started the scoring on a wrap around that beat Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson as he was slow to go from post to post. The goal was signific...

The Islanders wrap up the home slate of the season Tuesday night when the Ottawa Senators come to town. The Islanders will try to improve on their 13-18-9 home record before closing out the regular season on the road for their final three games. The Islanders have played better at home recently (3-0-1) but their failure to take advantage of home ice earlier in the year is a big reason why the Islanders will be watching the playoffs at home next week for the sixth time in their last seven seasons.

The Chicago Blackhawks came into this game only needing one point to clinch a playoff spot and again failed to do so. In a situation that is becoming less and less humorous the Blackhawks inability to play a consistent sixty minute game with solid defense is becoming an issue. If the Hawks think they can flip a switch come playoff time must remember first you have to get to the playoffs.

For the second straight night the Hawks played a terrible defensive game with poor gap control , too many zone turnovers and sloppy defensive zone coverage leaving their goalie hanging out to dry. In net for the Hawks was Antti Raanta who had a rough night to say the least.

On their return to Boston’s TD Garden after winning the Stanley Cup there last summer, the Chicago Blackhawks were unable to solve the Bruins’ goaltender Tuukka Rask, who made 28 saves throughout the game. The Blackhawks have only been shutout 3 times this season.

The Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron scored twice to extend a goal streak to a career-high five games. He scored the first goal of the game 11:50 of the first period on a tip-in of a slapshot by Matt Bartkowski, and scored his second goal, the third and last of the...

Having already used one of their two compliance buyouts from the new CBA, the Islanders have some decisions to make before the start of next season. Improvements need to be made and impact players need to be brought in if there is any hope of contending next season. Due to their already small budget, a compliance buyout may have to be used to make sure that they have money available to acquire the right players.

Behind another strong performance by Steve Mason and an offensive outburst, the Flyers were able to extend their point streak to five games and have now collected 12 of 16 possible points in their last eight games.

In fact, since the disastrous 7-0 loss at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Nov. 1, the Flyers have gone 5-1-2 and now sit just two points back from what would have them in playoff positioning.

(Photo: The Flyers celebrate Kimmo Timonen's first goal of the season, which proved to be the game-winner in the third period. Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Saturday night at the United Center, the Wild outplayed the Blackhawks 5-3. Goalie Niklas Bäckström, who still isn't 100% after a recent knee injury, collected the win. That night, the Blackhawks looked like they were nursing a Cup hangover, with sloppy play and lackluster play.

The Wild were down almost half a dozen players, and after being knocked out of the 2013 playoffs 4 games to 1 by Chicago, the game had to be a confidence-builder for them.